Week 2: The Goblin War

 The Goblin War

In another dimension, a timeline parallel to our own, there was a war that occurred. It happened in a decade similar to our own eighties and was between nearly every country in the world. Each country was forced to come up with a different way to fight the battle. Nuclear war was always an option, of course, but most world leaders knew that resulting in that would end their timeline as they knew it. 

Some countries decided upon enlisting more troops. Some countries decided to raise their budget for weapon design. Then, there were some who decided to employ creatures who weren’t all entirely human. 

These beings, hired to fight in the war, were Goblins. They were very rare creatures, preferring to keep to themselves, so they were never easily found. Once upon a time, they had feasted on human flesh, but that was before the population of humans grew. In this timeline, they were vastly outnumbered, couldn’t fight the humans as much as they wanted. 

A leader of a very large country, one that had entered the war early to simply save its own people, found the Goblins. They didn’t fight back; they hadn’t eaten human flesh in years, so their energy was depleted. The humans from this country smelled and looked delicious, but they were too tired to do anything about it. 

“What business do you have with us?” The She-goblin queen asked, sticking up her pointed nose. 

The leader of the country had heard about Goblins and their magic since he was a child, but it had been so long since anyone had seen them that he had begun to think it wasn’t true. “Can you still perform magic?” he asked curiously. 

The She-goblin grinned, and transformed into a beautiful woman; no one could have guessed that she was another creature entirely. 

“We have a proposition for you,” The leader’s right-hand man said with a knowing grin; their plan was going to work. 

The country’s military men took the She-goblins back to their country, telling them all about the employment opportunities that they had for them. They were fighting a war, with so many foreign men stationed on their land. The humans would fight the battles, but the She-goblins were to act as spies, luring in prisoners to their country. The soldiers would never consider that the beautiful women were as dangerous as the Goblins were. 

The plan was put forth into action nearly a week after all the She-goblins were led back to their home country. They were positioned in various restaurants along the borders of the country, where most of their enemies’ soldiers were stationed. The She-goblins were to speak with the soldiers, lure them in with the illusion of false security, and bring them back to the leader. Then, when the prisoners were no longer needed, they would be given to the She-goblins to feast on. The goblins got strong again.

The plan worked perfectly for a while until a man named Dave came into the picture. He was a soldier, but he was not so easily fooled by the illusions of the goblins. They sent every She-goblin, disguised as the most beautiful woman, his direction. Although he knew the women were not as they appeared, he decided to play along. Many of his friends had gone missing, and he was determined to find them. 

A woman named Cassandra was the one who lured him away from the diner, back toward her home country, where they were to get married. The entire way there, Dave was on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. 

When he got inside the borders of their home country, he noticed something peculiar. The women who all of his friends had fallen for were all alone, and they were all creating some sort of stew. The meat in it smelled like nothing Dave had ever smelled before, and he knew without a doubt that his friends had fallen to a cruel fate. He decided to wait a few more hours before venturing out to find his friends.

That night, after Cassandra had fallen asleep, Dave snuck out to the large building in the middle of the town. He swiftly broke the lock, busting through the double doors. Behind them, were all of his friends, many of them left as prisoners. 

“Dave!” They exclaimed excitedly, happy to see that they were being rescued. They explained how they had been captured as prisoners after marrying the She-goblins, only to be eaten after they got released. 

Dave let them go swiftly and then circled around the town to try and find any other men walking around. Some of them, though, wouldn’t leave and decided to stay. Dave wanted to save them, but he knew that if he tried to argue with them for any longer, he would get eaten too. 

When Dave got back, he received many medals for saving so many men. His only regret, though, was that he couldn’t save them all. The She-goblins were banished into another timeline for being outsmarted by a human, but not before they ate all of the men they had captured. The war ended shortly after that.

Author's Note: The original story that I used was called the Goblin City. In my story, I have changed it so that it is more parallel to our own history, rather than a faraway world. I also have changed the hero of the story from a fairy to a regular story. In the original, the Goblins live on their own island. In this, I developed a backstory to how they came in contact with the soldiers, and how they function in the modern world.

Goblin Forest

Bibliography. Jatakas - Goblins from The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse. Story Source